Many electrical devices contain male and female connectors to allow them to be connected to networks or other electrical devices. Electrical communication signals pass through the connector on one end to the connector on the other end when the connectors are in good electrically conductive contact. When the electrical connectors are not in good electrical contact, the electrical communication signals may become degraded in passing through the connection. The degraded signal often causes the electrical devices to provide degraded data to the users, such as providing a television picture with missing data, or a tiled image.
Electrical connectors often have a male end and a female end. The female end often contains a metal insert which engages with a metal probe or male connector on the male end with a desired amount of holding force when inserted to form an electrical connection. When the holding force is sufficient, a good electrical connection is made, allowing communications to pass between the two ends without substantial degradation in signal quality. The female electrical connector is often intended to hold the male connector within a range of tolerances. For example, an F-connector for receiving a coaxial cable is commonly expected to be able to accept a center conductor with a diameter in the range of 0.64-1.07 mm, have center contact depth of 9.65 mm minimum, and after 50 insertions/extractions of a male connector, maintain 25 grams load for 10 seconds when a 0.020 polished steel pin is inserted.
When the holding force or pullout resistance of the female connector is insufficient, such as if the female connector is worn or damaged, a poor connection or no connection is often associated with the insufficient holding force. In the instance of a poor connection, a communication signal passing between the two may become degraded to the point of being unacceptable to an end user or receiving device. The degradation may be in the form of dropping data or providing intermittent data.
Identifying a female connector as being worn or damaged is a difficult problem to assess without specialized testing equipment. In some instances, the female connector, for example an F connector, includes a center conductor receptacle which is buried deep within the fitting and cannot be easily seen (e.g. an F connector normally has about 9.65 mm minimum center contact depth). When the inner workings of the conductor become worn or damaged, it is very difficult to detect the faulty connector.
A faulty connector often causes the electrical device, such as a set top box (STB) to be returned for diagnostics and repair. The return of a STB often requires a technician to go to a user's house (“a truck roll”) to diagnose that the user has a problem, take the STB away to a service provider facility, and return the STB from the service provider to the manufacturer of the STB or a repair facility. The STBs are tested, diagnosed and repaired. The current process requires extensive use of resources to diagnose and repair a STB. However, the problem is often the result of a faulty connector. What is needed is a tool to quickly and easily diagnose the connection quality of a female connector to shorten the repair times of the electrical devices.